“No rules. Don’t be afraid to do whatever you want. Cooking doesn’t like it that way. ” – Masaharu Morimoto. Chef Morimoto has not been afraid to break rules and push boundaries. Because of this, from an early age, he has gone on to have a great career, created a great cuisine, and has been and continues to be successful. Morimoto was born May 26, 1955 in Hiroshima Japan. Although he is from Japan, he doesn’t visit much because he doesn’t have much family there. He has been married for over 30 years now to his wife, Keiko Morimoto. Before he even became a chef he wanted to be a professional baseball player.
When he was in his 20s he was going to be drafted into Japan’s major league team as a catcher but a shoulder injury forced him to quit. To this day he still loves baseball but doesn’t play at all due to his injury. He has be able to throw the first pitch at some major league games here in the states and cook for some of his favorite players. After his baseball career, his first job was at a sushi restaurant in Japan, where he learned everything he needed to know. Here Morimoto was an apprentice and he lived upstairs from the restaurant.
He did typical training for a sushi apprentice in Japan which includes that they spend their entire life at the restaurant. Because Morimoto did like the rules, he said that he would sneak out. He would go out of a window after midnight to go downtown almost every night. He would have to push a car from the restaurant parking to start it so no one would hear him. He says that he wasn’t supposed to do any of that and that he was only meant to follow the restaurant rules and that if anyone would of known at the time that he most likely been fired.
He does say that his rebelliousness impacted his creativity in a positive way and helped him grow as a person. Morimoto’s first big break was getting on the show, “Iron Chef, Japan. ” He was the first chef to compete in 1998. He went going against 6 chefs that each had different cooking styles, including: Japanese, French, Chinese, and Italian cuisine. His record was 16 wins, 7 loses, and 1 tie. He competed for a year in Japan before he moved to America. The producers of Iron Chef America managed to qualify Morimoto to be part of the show in 2006.
With 11 seasons running, his record for Iron Chef America is 26 wins, 17 loses, and 1 tie. Adding both records from the two shows, his total score is 42 wins, 24 loses, and 2 ties. Later on “The Next Iron Chef” aired in 2007, Morimoto made multiple appearances as the guest judge. During the show, and throughout Morimoto’s career his cuisine had been Japanese fusion. He believes in fusing food for unique tastes that were unfound. He has created unique dishes like, “Non Raw Fish Sushi,” and “Super Bowl Shrimp Nachos.
The ingredients for the non-raw fish sushi is smoked salmon, crab cake, grilled eel, and veggies. For non-vegetarians you can add a slice of seared beef, poached shrimp, or tuna. The super bowl nachos are a blend of baby shrimp with deep fried tortillas chips and a special Gochujang Aioli sauce and ranch dressing. With cherry tomatoes, guacamole, jalapeno slice thin, also 1/6 of a lime in micro cilantro. The dish are both unique in taste and are different from the normal dishes made in Japanese restaurants, which makes Morimoto stand out from the rest.
Chef Morimoto is now owner and executive chef at his many restaurants around the world. The following are his restaurants: Morimoto Philadelphia, Morimoto New York, Wasabi by Morimoto (Mumbai & New Delhi), Morimoto Sushi Bar (Boca Raton, FL), Morimoto Napa, Morimoto Waikiki (Honolulu), Morimoto Mexico City, Morimoto Maui, Japonais by Morimoto, Morimoto South Beach (Florida). All of his restaurants have been highly successful. Aside from his restaurants, he has gotten two very important awards.
The first one is The Culinary Hall of Fame which he received in 2012. He was was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame on February 17, 2012. The second award was “The Minister’s Award for Overseas Promotion of Japanese Food,” which was given to him February 19, 2013. This award is a distinction from the ministry of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Since then, Morimoto has done several other things. On June 4, 2015, he went to the Annual BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival. Which is said to bring together music and culinary talents on one stage.
He worked with rapper Snoop Dogg, who had never had sushi before, so Morimoto taught Snoop Dogg how to make a California Roll and gave him his first sushi. On May 7, 2015 he worked at the Japan State Dinner at The White House. He was asked to join White House executive chef, Chris Comeford, and executive pastry chef, Susan Morrison. Together they created a one of a kind menu for the Japan State Dinner at the White House. On March 20, 2015 he debuted his new sake and Momosan Bar, located in Morimoto Napa. Chef Morimoto’s focus on serving guests in a very traditional style.
For example sake is poured in a glass and inside a masu box. Every day, he creates new recipes and ideas. Morimoto is motivated and strives to continue his success. Morimoto has been so successful because at an early age he pushed barriers to have an interesting cuisine and achieved career. From where he is now, he says that there are still more challenges ahead of him. He has accomplished a lot in his career but he says that the culinary world is so deep that there are a lot more things for him to explore.
